Over the years, petitions and threats have circulated of groups or portions of states talking about cessation from a given state to form its own. While none of them have panned out, options have existed (Texas has been argued to have the right to form up to five states, for instance).

The Washington Post recently tripped across a 2011 rendering from Andrew Shears that plays “what if” with the various cessation scenarios to lead a pretty amusing, and amazing, result.

Click the map to visit Andrew Shears’ site, which has a larger version.

New England alone has a number of branches that come from it, although Connecticut escapes unscathed (pretty amazing for The Constitution State) and New York is largely intact. Other states, like Illinois, are a patchwork quilt of themselves.  It’s a fun take at the various possibilities, and shows how unstable things could be if it were easier to break apart.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/12/31/the-124-states-of-america/